Luis' Big Day

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There is something truly special about watching a person get released from prison. It’s hard to describe the experience precisely but it’s sort of like watching someone graduate from college and come out of a time machine at the same time.

Yesterday, one of the inmates who we had been following at CERESO II, Luis Bravo, was released after spending five years behind bars for auto theft. The announcement of his release came as quite a surprise to both him and us, as we were all under the impression that he would not get out for another ten months. Unbeknown to all of us, however, the prison director and the Secretary of Public Safety for the state of Tamaulipas had recently shortened Luis’ sentence due to his good behavior and his dedication to teaching English to his fellow inmates. The turn of events was actually quite fortuitous for us as we always love capturing dramatic and emotional moments on film - though it admittedly would have been better if we could have had more time to adequately prepare for it.

Ironically, we were actually filming Luis in Modulo 6 when the events first transpired. First, an officer approached Luis while he played dominoes with a couple of his fellow inmates and told him that he had to report to the front office immediately. Probably thinking that he was in trouble, Luis put his hands on the back of his head and walked nervously to the front of the prison. But what, or who, he saw waiting for him was nothing short of shocking.

Anxiously sitting in a chair outside the prison director’s office was Luis’ mom, who had just been given the good news a few hours earlier and had rushed across the border from Laredo, Texas to Nuevo Laredo, Mexico for the event (it was also her birthday). In an interview with Luis earlier that day, he had actually told us that he had been yearning to be reunited with his mother, particularly since his dad had died just a few months earlier. Now, as if from an episode of the Oprah Winfrey Show, Luis’ biggest dream was actually coming true. His mom sat there, weeping and reaching out to him through the bars, praising God for this wonderful ‘miracle.’

As soon as Luis was released, I asked him what he and his mom were going to do first. Their first stop, he said, was going to be Whataburger.

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Photos

Interview
Luis being interviewed just moments before he was told that he was getting released.

Last time behind bars
Luis signing his release papers.

Reunited!
Luis and his mom!